


hephaestion replies

by skarlatha



Series: Conversations in Verse [3]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Daryl pov, M/M, Poetry, Rickyl Writers' Group, You Can Blame MAE for This
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 10:52:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6192181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skarlatha/pseuds/skarlatha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl responds to Rick's confession. This is a direct response to <a href="http://http://archiveofourown.org/works/6142999">Answer Me</a> by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/michelle_a_emerlind">Michelle_A_Emerlind</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hephaestion replies

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Answer Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6142999) by [Michelle_A_Emerlind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michelle_A_Emerlind/pseuds/Michelle_A_Emerlind). 



> This is all MAE's fault. All of it. Be sure to read her poem first or it won't make much sense.
> 
> This was originally titled "hephaestion at ecbatana" but I retitled it to make it reflect the poem better. However, the implication of the original title--Ecbatana being the place where Hephaestion died--was an intentional (though not necessarily literal) one.

 

you don’t know what it’s like to burn

everything burns and then there’s ash  
my mother’s bones hot under cinders  
the farm, the prison, the lake outside  
our new home which we almost lost  
everything burns at my hand  
but i have always risen from it  
until now, until you, until _this_

you needed me and god,  
i loved you, i loved you  
nothing else ever burned like you

and i gave you everything  
my heart first, that was easy  
and my body much later, nails  
raking down my skin in a barn,  
you wet from the rain and me  
basking in it, in your want and your need  
of me, your words in my ears practicing vows that you later made to her, promises that you whispered into her body, the golden boy with the silver tongue and she believed you as i believed you because you inspire loyalty in everyone you touch  
and you touched her  
you fucking touched her  
and you met my eyes later and smiled and i swear to god  
i swear to god rick  
i can’t even look at you

you’ve taken everything i offered  
my sweat, my bow, the game i shot to feed your children  
my soul, my skin, my trust  
even my brother’s blood, the most precious thing i ever gave you, and you sold him out for her, for her, for _her_ , and i should have known that i would end up being both too much and not enough

not enough

never enough

i’ve never been enough and i should have known  
i should have known  
i should have _fucking_ known

we are born and we die, over and over, in each others’ arms  
and we never learn from it, never  
stop believing that this time will be the time  
when it finally works, when the stars keep burning

but it always dies like this  
not from the burning  
but from the ice in your eyes when you look at me in the morning  
your skin still warm from hers

and so you wonder why i leave the walls  
why i go outside, why my soul craves the emptiness between trees  
between us  
between galaxies and the light of stars

this is why


End file.
